"Official" ESPN Coverage of WSOP Main Event: Final 27

Mike: "You want action? If you say you do, I'll call, but if you don't, I won't."

Shiek: "I want action."

Mike: "I fold."

[Aces McGee]

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brutal one.

Tim Phan Eliminated in 24th Place ($304,680)

Hand 33 - Joe Connor has the button in seat 9, Black raises, and the action is off the monitor, but he's soon all in against Tim Phan. Phan shows pocket tens (10h-10s), and Black has Ah-Qh. It's a race situation as the flop comes Ad-10d-9s, and Phan makes a set of tens over Black's pair of aces. The turn card is the Qd, giving Black two pair, and he can now catch a queen or an ace on the river for a full house to win the pot (4 outs). The river card is -- a QUEEN! Andrew Black makes a runner-runner full house to eliminate Tim Phan in 24th place, earning $304,680.

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The best part of this hand was, after Phan turned over his hand, Ivey saying "I folded the other two tens" just to mess with him.

I get the feeling that Ivey (in contrast to many other pros, who enjoy playing to the TV cameras) thinks that all the grandstanding that goes on in these tournaments is a little ridiculous.

I don't know how many pre-poker boom big-buyin tourney players we have reading this forum, but if any of you are out there:

Did any of the grandstanding and yelling and fist-pumping and high-fiving that we've come to expect these days go on back before poker was huge?

-McGee

[Aces McGee]

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Greg Raymer Eliminated in 25th Place ($304,680)

Hand 23 - Andrew Black has the button in seat 8, Alsancak raises, and Raymer calls from the big blind. The flop comes Kh-Kc-7c, Raymer moves all in, and Alsancak calls. Raymer shows Ac-9h, and Alsancak has pocket fives (5d-5c). Raymer needs to catch a nine, an ace, or running clubs to stay alive. The turn card is the Kd, and Raymer needs to catch a seven, a nine, a king, or an ace to stay alive. The river card is the 2s, and Greg Raymer is eliminated in 25th place, earning $304,680.

The entire crowd of spectators, media, and even members of the ESPN crew give Raymer a standing ovation as he is eliminated in his quest to repeat as the World Series of Poker champion.

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I know almost nothing about NL tournament strategy, so hopefully someone will indulge me: was Greg's play here standard?

It seemed to me that he was essentially pot-committed when he called preflop, and that he was going all in no matter what the flop. By calling, he lets Alsancak see the flop and evaluate from there.

In other words, if it was obvious to me, of all people, that Greg would be pushing on any flop (and maybe I'm wrong about that), then wouldn't it have been obvious to Alsancak, as well? And if that's the case, isn't it better to make Alsancak make the tough decision preflop, when he has less information?

Thanks in advance for setting me straight.

-McGee

[gobboboy]

This is a standard stop and go play. He is committed to call preflop no matter what, and if greg knows the money is getting in no matter what then why not give himself the slightest possibility of getting his opponent to fold on the flop when overcards appear? The paired board was pretty bad. If the flop had come KQ7 instead of KK7 I think he would've folded.

[Aces McGee]

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This is a standard stop and go play. He is committed to call preflop no matter what, and if greg knows the money is getting in no matter what then why not give himself the slightest possibility of getting his opponent to fold on the flop when overcards appear? The paired board was pretty bad. If the flop had come KQ7 instead of KK7 I think he would've folded.

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I see. So given Alsancak's range of hands and given all possible flops, he's more likely to fold on the flop than he would preflop?

-McGee

[dlk9s]

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That was about the two most entertaining hours of televised poker I've seen. ESPN did a good job putting this one together.

Dannemann, Matusow and Black all seemed really cool. Especially Black.

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From witnessing it all in person (and getting a chance to be at the press conferences), Black is definitely a cool guy. Strangely spiritual for a poker player, but cool nonetheless.

Dannenmann is exactly what he seems like - your next door neighbor. Friendly, funny, unassuming. The visor he was wearing was for his buddy's company. The friend did give him half his buy-in in exchange for wearing the visor, but the visor request was more of a joke than anything, considering he didn't expect to get it on TV.

Matusow, while still "The Mouth," was a good sport even when things didn't go his way. I was standing a few yards away when he had that blowup with Sheik and I can tell you that virtually nobody was siding with Sheik. That chest bump someone asked about was for entertainment value.

Hachem is also a very cool guy. He should be a great ambassador for the game. Seems appreciate the game, appreciate people, and appreciate life.

[gobboboy]

Can you imagine what would happen if Sheik had won? *shudder*

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This is a standard stop and go play. He is committed to call preflop no matter what, and if greg knows the money is getting in no matter what then why not give himself the slightest possibility of getting his opponent to fold on the flop when overcards appear? The paired board was pretty bad. If the flop had come KQ7 instead of KK7 I think he would've folded.

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I see. So given Alsancak's range of hands and given all possible flops, he's more likely to fold on the flop than he would preflop?

-McGee

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He's never folding preflop if he thinks he's in a coinflip with 55 for that few chips. He will, however, fold on a scary flop when he doesn't think he is getting odds.

[gisb0rne]

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Danneman isn't nervous AT ALL.

Good fold hachem.

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Why is this a good fold? 2-1 favorite for all your money, you can't expect to get much better than that.

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Your a special one aren't you, you do realize that Hachem is a 3-1 dog to a set with his flush draw.

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No I didn't realize that because my viewing and reading comprehension skills are clearly lacking. I seriously thought it was Hachem that had 99 and Danneman that had AKs.

[charlie_t_jr]

So I guess that means we'll get 2 hours of the final table? Wasn't last year only 90 min. and then edited to an hour for repeats?

Considering the length of the final day, even 2hrs will not show much.

[MeanGreenTT]

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Am I the only one who saw Sheikhan making a masterbating hand motion while he was not standing up for Raymer's elimination?

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Nope, I caught that PLAIN AS DAY, what a _______ (is that a bannable insult?)